Furgleton...
Al, world-renowned Lupologist extraordinaire,
was busily unclogging a broken yo-yo from his toilet.
"Fluffy, when you want to get rid of something,
use the GARBAGE CAN..." Al muttered, the sleeves of his lab coat rolled up as
he pushed and pulled on the plunger.
Fluffy, his faithful blue Cobrall, stood to
the side, bouncing a superball on his head. He weaved back and forth, trying
to keep it moving as long as possible, until it bounced off Al's head. With
a yell, he tumbled into the toilet headfirst.
"AIEEE!!"
Water sprayed everywhere as Al thrashed his
legs and arms, desperately trying to get himself out. Fluffy looked around guiltily
before slithering out of the bathroom, chuckling to himself. As Al finally got
himself out of the toilet, there was a loud knock on the door. He grabbed a
towel before walking out of his bathroom and over to the door. Dripping wet
and furious, the Lupologist opened it up, not noticing the plunger attached
to the top of his head.
"Yes?"
Standing on Al's front step was a rather rotund
white Chia in a police officer's uniform. His bushy brown moustache twitched
whenever he spoke, and his beady eyes scanned Al's expression like a polygraph.
"You are Alexander T. Chia, Lupologist, correct?"
Al blinked. "Uh, right..."
"I don't know what you've been doing in here,"
he said, eying the plunger on Al's head. "But I sure hope it's legal..."
"Oh..." Al plucked the plunger off his head
and tossed it aside, where it stuck onto Fluffy's face instead.
"Eh heh... just a little problem with the plumbing..."
"I see..." The police officer gave Al a suspicious
glare.
"Well, Alexander, I'm Officer Andrew Abbernathy.
I've been sent here to make a proposal..."
Abbernathy pushed past Al and entered his house,
suspiciously glaring at everything inside and not skipping a single detail (especially
the shrieking Cobrall ramming into the furniture in his attempts to get the
plunger off).
"As you are the only Lupologist in town, we
have decided to enlist your help in our investigation. You have heard of...Jack
the Rippaw, correct?"
He said the culprit's name as though it would
summon him there, and a hint of nervousness passed over his eyes before his
harsh glare returned.
"Yes, Officer...I'm not sure of a Chia who hasn't."
"Well, you see..." Officer Abbernathy put a
paw around Al's shoulder. "You are the only Chia in town who can enter Lupe
Forest undetected, and can communicate with the Lupes safely, right?"
"Yeah..."
"Right! There you go!" The cop handed him a
pile of paperwork.
"Good luck solving the case!! You'll need to
interview Hannibalpaw down at the Lupe Forest Penitentiary. Have fun!!"
"HANNIBALPAW!?!? But..." Before Al could respond,
Abbernathy was gone...
Lupe Forest...
Suspicion spread through the Lupes like wildfire.
Lupes eyed each other with sudden discomfort, and a chorus of murmurs ensued,
dividing the Lupes into groups of accusations.
"That Warpaw is pretty shifty..."
"And I always thought Peacepaw was Peaceful..."
"I haven't seen Hotpaw around lately... oh,
wait, there he is...never mind..."
"Hollypaw hates chias...SURELY she's he culprit?"
"Stenchpaw smells funny! HE did it!"
Thoughts turned into opinions. Opinions turned
into accusation. Accusation turned into denial. Denial turned into further accusation,
and that only produced more and more thoughts in the minds of the Lupes Soon,
they were all at each other's throats, not realising the utter chaos that was
about to ensue...
Lupe Forest Penitentiary...
Al gulped, his sneakers squeaking loudly as
he nervously walked into the Maximum Security Section. All sorts of creepy,
crazy creatures were pent up inside for who knows how long, deviously plotting
away at escapes and other destructive plans against the society that put them
there. Mad geniuses, crazy psycho serial killers, and several members of the
Neopets Staff that were somehow restrained long enough to be placed into their
cells were just a few of the sick-minded monsters that roamed around inside
these walls.
But Al was looking for a particular sick-minded
monster.
He stopped in front of one large, VERY protected
cell, staring inside. It was dark inside, and the resident of the room couldn't
be seen. He could, however, hear the sound of rats scattering around inside
the walls, and the Electric restraint buzzing was very clear. Suddenly, he saw
it. Two glowing yellow eyes, peering at him with a curious, but dangerous expression.
Several gleaming teeth suddenly appeared as the prisoner inside beamed.
"I've been expecting you, Alexander."
Al laughed nervously. "Heh...I hope you're not
mad that my aunt's second cousin on my father's left side put you in prison..."
"Oh, I'm not mad at all, Al. I'm beyond that."
Al tittered a little more nervously as Hannibalpaw
licked his pale green lips, stepping into the light. Al could see the bright
orange colour of his prison uniform. It clashed horribly with his pale-green
fur, but Al wasn't worrying about prison uniform fashion at the moment. The
Lupe stood and talked casually, as though they were meeting in his house rather
than in his dank, dirty dungeon.
"So what brings you down to my cozy little home,
Alexander? Did you want to ask me a few questions about...Jack the Rippaw?"
"How did you..."
Hannibalpaw laughed a cold, cruel laugh, his
sharp eyes burning a spot into Al's.
"That's for me to know, and for you to find
out..."
The demented, cannibalistic Lupe licked his
lips, eyeing Al like a piece of chicken.
"You know...If you...lent me a hand...just maybe
I would consider giving you the information you want..."
Al immediately shoved his paws into his pockets,
a bead of sweat trickling down his shocked face.
"Eh heh...I'm sorry, but I'd rather keep my
hands to myself..."
"I understand."
Hannibalpaw's solid, fearless stare made shivers
go up and down the lupologist's spine.
"Then I am afraid I cannot provide you with
any information at this moment... However...if you were to...run a few...errands
for me..."
Hannibalpaw smiled.
"Perhaps I would be...compelled...to help you
out."
Al knew Crazed Lupe Psychology very well, and
he realised he would have to comply if he was to get the info he needed.
"All right, fine Hannibalpaw. I'll play your
little game."
The sick green Lupe laughed, charging up close
to the bars of his cage and causing Al to jump back in alarm.
"Before I talk further..."
Hannibalpaw pulled away from the door. His breath
had fogged up the metal on the bars.
"I must get a solemn promise you will not tell
anyone of this encounter..."
He leaned against the wall.
"A Chia tried to betray me once...I ate his
liver...with a side of fava beans, and a nice salmon sherbert smoothie ...FTHPFTHPFTHPFTHPFTHPFTHP!!!"
He paused for a moment.
"I also remember having this marvelous scrambled
negg down at a Diner...very well done, really, best I ever had. Of course, it
couldn't compare to the fine cookery of Negg Soup down at that swanky place
over on Main Street...I'm a food critic, you know... now, what was it called?"
"You mean the Swanky Swan?"
"Yes, that's the spot... anyway..."
Hannibalpaw grinned, showing his gleaming white
teeth.
"First, I want you to take a photograph of Peachpaw,
the Faerie Lupess. I've had a little crush on her since High School, and I want
a picture as a reminder of my happier early years... secondly, I want you to
defeat Warpaw in a Battledome match... that lousy Lupe beat me up more than
once, and I never got a chance to take my...revenge..."
His eyes gleamed at the thought.
"Third off, I want you to bring me a freshly
cooked Chia..."
"TOO FAR!!" Al yelled.
"FINE THEN!!" he muttered. "If you are not willing
to do that...Then you must take this letter to the Evil Meerca Plushie, the
most evil being in Lupe Forest!!"
He pulled a neatly folded letter out of his
orange prison uniform.
"It has some information that the prison people
here would probably edit out."
Hannibalpaw carefully tossed the letter to Al
through the bars of the electrified cage. He caught it, carefully putting it
into one of his many hidden pockets before looking back to Hannibalpaw.
"These are all very dangerous tasks... how do
you expect me to do all these?"
"That's for me to know and for you to find out."
Hannibalpaw smiled.
"You said that earlier..." Al observed. "If
you're a diabolical genius, you should at least think up new things."
"Oh, right... anyway, you must complete these
three tasks in three days... if you do not, I shall break out of prison and
eat you, and the Rippaw will remain at large. If you do, I shall break out of
prison and will NOT eat you, and you can reveal the Rippaw's identity, and live
happily ever after. Whoop-dee-dah. Deal?"
Al sighed, wiping his glasses off on his lab
coat. "Deal..."
"I'd shake paws, but, you know, the electrified
cages and all..."
"Right, of course..."
And with that, Al swiftly scurried out of the
prison, nervously looking over his back at the eerie smile of Hannibalpaw.
"Ta Ta!....for now..."
He disappeared back into the shadows with one
last, gleaming smile...
To be continued... | 
